Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

Soup du Jour – What’s in a name?

January 26, 2026 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chicken Wings, Chinese Restaurants, Dog Friendly, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

In my revisit post for Ju Feng Yuan, I mentioned my current favorite popcorn chicken was from Soup du Jour. Now, I honestly thought I had posted on the place. But as I looked to create a link for the post, I discovered I had not! WTH??? So, I set out to correct that mistake. And went searching for photos and than did a couple of revisits.

I came across the place after returning from Taiwan in 2023. I was looking for some Taiwanese food and along with the usual, not-so-good suspects, Soup du Jour appeared. So, I decided to head on over. Soup du Jour was a very odd name and the location is in the Corsair Apartment complex on Aero Drive.

Looks familiar? Well, this was the former location of Carve Modern Deli & Beer on Aero Drive. Way back when, my office was located on Aero Drive, this place would have been in walking distance!

Parking is fairly limited and the restaurant’s interior looks basically the same, if a bit more packed with “stuffs”.

Anyway, when I first started visiting, I tried a whole of items from the very “diverse” menu. This is what it looked like back then.

Everything from Rotiserie Chicken to Congee to Ribeye Steak to Youtiao to ????

And I tried a whole bunch of stuff that, well…to put it honestly I didn’t care for. Like the Lu Rou Fan….the photo of which I couldn’t find! But here’s a few other one and dones….

The Daikon Soup….

The Asian “Meatball” Soup.

I was going to basically give up, but decided to do one more visit….because the owner, whose name was Claire was so nice!

And she was from Chiayi, one of our favorite little cities in Taiwan. We chatted about Taiwan while waiting for my food to go, so I finally asked her for some recommendations and she told me to try the Street Chicken, which she said was Taiwan style Popcorn Chicken and the Honey Glazed Spareribs, both of which were winnahs!

These are photos from several takeout meals I ordered that were supposed to be part of that non-existent post.

Loved the legit fried basil…which seemed to be missing in this box; but was actually underneath the chicken.

And the spareibs, were nice, looked tough, but quite moist with a touch of sweetness, smokiness, and Asian touches in flavor.

Though I’ve never been able to resign myself to those roasted veggies……

And so, I thought I did my post???? I did do some additional visits; the Missus also enjoys the chicken and ribs.

And then we got JJ. I recalled that Soup du Jour had a nice patio area, so I took JJ over for lunch!

By this time, I noticed that the menu had changed and also instead of Claire, a young guy and lady were running the place. The menu had also expanded.

And I saw Jiaozi on the menu, plus I’d always wanted to try the Salt & Pepper Wings ($14) to go with my Pork and Cabbage Dumplings ($13.99).

The jiaozi was a non-starter; the wrapper was really think and very chewy. The sauce had a weird sweetness to it.

The filling was a coarse cut; something I prefer to overly minced fillings, but this was also a bit on the chewy side; though the flavor, porky-sesame wasn’t too bad if a bit mild.

As for the chicken wings; the were seven in an order. I had them put it into a take out box for me in case I couldn’t finish.

Like the jiaozi; this didn’t quite hit the spot. I like a nice garlic topping, but this was burnt and bitter. The batter was uneven and soggy. Decent saltiness with a hint of pepper and spice, but nothing special.

The flesh was fine, a bit overcooked. All in all, this could have come from Panda Express…..

And then I did the JFY post and realized I missed the boat on doing a SdJ one! Unless maybe I did actually do a post…..which took place in another dimension? Anyway, the Missus was wanting the Street Chicken, which was now $15. So I did a takeout order.

This travels well. The batter is more on the crunchy side. The Missus is especially fond of the white pepper tones, five spice, saltiness, and that fried basil. It heats up well in the air fryer too.

Pretty moist, decent toothsomeness, also hints of other pungent spices, with a very mild hint of sweetness. It is by far our favorite version in San Diego. You hear that Bopomofo? Though I still need to check some other places. Let me know if you have a recommendation!

Deciding that I needed to at least try those Honey Glazed Spareribs again, I drove over for lunch with JJ.

Now priced at $17.50, you also add brown rice for 50 cents more; which is what I did. Good nuttiness from the brown rice which wasn’t overly chewy.

I’m still not the biggest fan of the roasted veggies that come with this as it just seems out of place.

Still, I was here for the ribs, which were moist, falling off the bone, and had a nice sweet-savory flavor, with a hint of smokiness.

The Missus actually enjoys these as leftovers. She enjoys the flavor and prefers it much firmer. It was good to know that it was still a dish we enjoyed.

Though I did not see Claire on this visit either; so I asked the young lady working and was told that Claire had sold the business to them a while back! Bummer; I hope she’s doing well! I always enjoyed chatting with her. I was happy to note that the dishes we enjoyed were still good.

And so, I was finally ready for a post, right? Well, I was until I saw this sign posted.

Well, I guess I needed to make one more visit…..

I’m guessing the new ownership are adding items to the menu. It’s good to see that.

The Hainan Chicken Rice was just $13.99.

I ignored the sweet-soy dressing and stayed with what I’m used to with this dish.

First off; I did not like the rice which was super dry and hard.

In spite of the color; it lacked that rich chicken flavor I expect in the rice with this dish.

The chicken itself was not bad. Quite moist, but very mild in poultry-ness.

The typical sauce, lacked scallions, had a bit too much garlic for my taste, and was starting to discolor.

I also think it needed a bit more oil for texture.

Not a terrible Hainan Chicken Rice, especially for the price, but I know I can get much better here.

Still, I know I’ll be returning when the Missus wants Her fix…..

So here you go…..finally got this done. Soup du Jour….what’s in a name???

Soup du Jour
8583 Aero Dr.
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday

Zen Modern Asian Bistro – Now at the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck

January 23, 2026 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

I’m not sure which “FOY” mentioned that Zen Modern Asian Bistro had moved from Sabre Springs to the Del Mar Highlands Sky Deck…perhaps it was Dereck or RD?

Anyway, after my rather unsatisfying bowl of NRM from Dao Xiang, along with the cooler weather; I thought it would be a great time to make the drive up the 5 and check out the Sky Deck, which Cathy has been to…but I’ve only visited the Jimbo’s in this mall.

It’s a large if rather dark space; very hip in that “you know it’s Del Mar” kinda way…..

Zen is just to the left of the entrance.

It’s got a bit of a sports bar look to it along with a dining area. It’s interesting to see that the doors to the kitchen area are automatic ones.

The young man brought me the menu; though I already knew what I was going to order.

And oh my, the NRM is now $22 and adding the suan cai is another $1!

And soon enough my order arrived. That bowl of NRM was quite large!

In many ways; it’s basically the same as I had at the previous location.

Not overly salty, mild beefiness, light soysauce, light richness, in need for more aggressive anise-beefiness for my taste.

In what was an improvement over what I’d had before was that the beef was nice and tender and full of savory-beefiness. And there was quite a lot of meat!

The noodles still lacked springiness and also didn’t do a great job of “picking up” the broth.

There’s a good amount of bok choy….in case you’re worried about getting some “veggies”!

As Dereck and RD both indicated; the must have item is the suan cai, the pickled greens.

There’s a bracing sour-tanginess to it. And while it may be slightly on the sweeter end of the spectrum to me, it really boosted the overall flavor of the broth when I dumped it into the bowl.

Overall not bad….better than many other versions in San Diego. And while it may be better than other versions, I’m not sure the price tag and the drive is worth it for me. Still, I’m glad to have tried the NRM here at the new location of Zen

Zen Modern Asian Bistro (In the Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center)
12841 El Camino Real Suite 206
San Diego, CA 92130
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Me Sen Thai Noodle House and Sizzling House & Noodle Revisited

June 24, 2025 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Thai Restaurants

Here are a couple of revisits to places that have recently opened. One was a revisit to try a dish they were out of on previous visits; the other a couple of coworkers wanted to check out.

Sizzling House & Noodle:

So, Calvin and Richard wanted to meet up for lunch. After going thru some of the newer places in the Convoy area; they decided to meet up at Sizzling House & Noodle.

Sizzling House Rev 01

Well, one thing was for sure….I wasn't going to have the A5 Wagyu again! I had fully intended on getting the rice with pepper sauce and shrimp. But, I ended getting what Calvin and Richard ordered; the basic beef with pepper sauce. ($17.99) I did get it with udon to see how the noodles held up and of course an egg ($1.99 upcharge).

Of course, the friendly neighborhood robot delivered our plates.

Sizzling House Rev 02

Which were "shielded" by the cardboard crown to prevent splatter.

Sizzling House Rev 03 Sizzling House Rev 04 First off, I actually thought the basic "wagyu" (heavy on the quotes) beef, while rather scarce was cut thinner, thus seemingly more tender. I liked the thin slices of oyster mushroom, which added a nice sweet-earthiness to the plate. To me, that egg is a must.

The standard gravy boat of pepper sauce was provided. For some reason, it seemed sweeter than on my previous visit. To me, the tangy-sweet flavors overpower the pepperiness.

As for the udon, well, the texture was decent, good pull, mild chewiness, though some of the noodles were stuck to the pan, which I guess wasn't "oiled" enough.

Sizzling House Rev 05

And like before, there just didn't seem to be enough sauce to coat the starch…at least to satisfy me.

Well, at least I got to try this place out again, without spending over $40. I'm kind of done with this "fad" for now.

Sizzling House & Noodle
4698 Convoy St. Suite 107
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 930pm
Friday 11am – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 930pm

Me Sen Thai Noodle House:

I found myself at 99 Ranch Market on Clairemont at around 945 or so and once I'd finished shopping, I looked over to Me Sen, which was still quite empty, and decided to see if they had the dish that they had been out of on my visit back in April.

Me Sen Rev 01

And yes, they had the Khao Mun Gai ($13.95) available. So, I took a seat and placed my order to the very nice woman working.

It was a short wait, but soon enough my Khao Mun Gai arrived.

Me Sen Rev 02 Me Sen Rev 03 Which smelled heavenly. It came with a bowl of broth that had decent cilantro – white pepper tones, but was quite salty. And the dipping sauce, which did have a bit of spice was not my favorite as I prefer the Hainanese style white, ginger-garlic, pungent style sauce.

My favorite part of the dish was the rice, which was so fowl-ly delicious, as if it had stolen the soul of that chicken! It had just the right amount of salt and was cooked perfectly. The portion of rice was rather large, which I actually appreciated in this case.

Me Sen Rev 04 Me Sen Rev 05 As for the chicken; well it was deboned, making it easy to eat, while being very moist and tender. It was a bit on the milder side in terms of flavor though. Again, if I had that ginger-garlic based sauce, I'd have been really happy. I ended up making sure I had some "chicken soul stealing" rice and chicken in each bite.

To me, it's hard finding a good Khao Mun Gai/Hainan Chicken Rice in San Diego and this comes pretty close. Along with the friendly service…..even in the face of some kinda rude "typical 99 Ranch" customers, and the decent price, I'll definitely return for this, and even the noodle soups I'd had here before.

Me Sen Rev 02

Me Sen Thai Noodle Shop
7300 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 9pm

A5 Wagyu Beef Rice from Sizzling House & Noodle

March 13, 2025 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Japanese Restaurants, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

**** I did a revisit, you can read that post here.

One of the other victims of the China Max fire in 2020 was the Convoy location of Tasty Pot. The place was repaired with the same owners in place; but I'm guessing with all the hot pot restaurants dotting the area the proprietors decided to go in a different direction, deciding on a sizzling plate/pepper lunch concept named Sizzling House which opened in December.

I'd been trying to talk the Missus into visiting, but She didn't seem to enthusiastic about "feeding another fad", but She finally encouraged me to check the place out on my own.

Sizzling House 01

So, I decided to head on over; arriving right after 11 on a weekday. The spacious restaurant had but one table occupied when I arrived and just two when I left.

Sizzling House 02

As is the trend with many restaurants these days; ordering is done via QR code. Though I found the folks working to be quite attentive, which is probably pretty easy with just two tables occupied.

Sizzling House 03

Funny thing; as I was looking thru the menu; the Missus sent me a text encouraging me to order the Japanese A5 Wagyu. When I said I thought it was waaaay too expensive, She kept insisting! Perhaps She was just feigning Her distinerest?

I finally relented and ordered the Japanese A5 Wagyu rice, meat medium rare, with an egg (of course) which had a $1.99 upcharge. This wasn't cheap by any means.

Sizzling House 04

Though you did get a free green tea, with or without hot or cold, with or without sugar.

Sizzling House 05

My plate came out, with a cardboard "crown" to protect the innocent fairly quickly. It was sizzling quite nicely.

Sizzling House 06 Sizzling House 07 The portion of rice was quite large there was corn and edamame scattered about the hot plate. The beef, supposedly four ounces was topped with a small scoop of butter, which I thought wasn't necessary.

The pepper sauce came in a small gravy boat. I tasted the sauce; which was interesting as it was much spicier than the usual Taiwanese Black Pepper sauce. The sauce was rather rich in texture with some decent tangy tones, a mild sweetness, and a savory component. I think this kind of overpowered the black pepper component. For some reason, I thought it would go great with shrimp?

The beef was a rather thinly sliced and I got to moving it quickly so it wouldn't overcook.

Sizzling House 08

With the beef sidelined to prevent overcooking; I worked on mixing the rice, other stuffs, and sauce to get things nicely coated. In some ways, I almost wished this was in a dolsot as some caramelization and crispy bits would add to texture and flavor.

As a whole, the sauce overpowered the beef which I'm glad I moved to the side and ate without contact with the sauce. You could cut it with the fork, but I don't think I'd get this again. As much as I thought that there was a good amount of sauce, I think I could have used even more! Though the rice did taste pretty good; and the corn added some sweetness and in combination with the edamame more textural contrast.

Sizzling House 09

Then again, I'm not going to spent forty bucks for a "funky fried rice"; though, like I mentioned above, I do think I'll return to try with the chicken or perhaps have another sauce, mushroom and Japanese curry are offered.

Sizzling House 00

The Missus didn't care for the leftovers as it was too "rich" for Her. Though I'm glad I tried Sizzling House out; as I thought it was better than expected. Service was very nice as well.

Niu Rou Mian from Zen Modern Asian Bistro (Sabre Springs)

January 15, 2025 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Niu Rou Mian, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

In the comments section of my post on the Banh Mi Bo Kho from Pho Lucky, "FOY" Dereck mentioned the Beef Noodle Soup from Zen Modern. I found this interesting since Calvin had also mentioned enjoying the Niu Rou Mian from Zen Modern. So, I guess it was time to make my way to Sabre Springs to check things out.

I found the location of the restaurant to be interesting, right next to the MTS parking lot, in a small strip mall with a tight parking lot, squeezed between a 7-11 and a location of March and Ash which was doing some major business.

Zen Modern NRM 01

As for the restaurant, well it was empty at a few minutes past eleven.

Zen Modern NRM 02

Once seated, I was handed a menu that had everything from Egg Rolls to Salt & Pepper Wings to Udon to Kimchi Fried Rice to Nigiri to a huge collection of "Rolls"….you kinda see why I hesitated in visiting. Both Dereck and Calvin advised me to only get the Beef Noodle Soup. Which I finally found on the menu below the Crispy Chicken Spring Roll and above the Chinese Chop Salad.

Zen Modern NRM 03

So, I placed my order for the Beef Noodle Soup ($19) and the default dining utensil was delivered to the table…..

Zen Modern NRM 03b

Hmmm…..luckily there were packs of wooden disposable chopsticks in the container on the table.

This is what the niu rou mian looked like.

Zen Modern NRM 04 Zen Modern NRM 05 This was actually not bad. The soup could have used more anise and beef flavor for my taste, but it had a mild peppery spice, a balanced sodium content, good soy sauce tones, and was not bad at all. In fact, I've definitely had worse in the Convoy District and at a popular chain from Taiwan in Mira Mesa…this was definitely better in my opinion. The richness and texture of the soup was on par with what I've had in San Diego.

The noodles were slightly over cooked, thus they lacked a good "QQ" springiness but were fine.

The beef were a mixed bag, some really under cooked and tough pieces, while some bits were very tender and tasty.

Zen Modern NRM 06

Overall, I was rather pleasantly surprise considering the almost Americanized Asian Fast-Foodish looking shop and menu with dishes from all of East Asia. The price at nineteen bucks wasn't a bargain, but like I said, I've had worse in the "Asian districts" of San Diego. If Zen was in my 'hood, I'd probably have the NRM every once in a while.

Zen Modern NRM 07

Who knew; NRM in Sabre Springs!

Zen Modern Asian Bistro
13510 Sabre Springs Pkwy Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92128
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 10am – 9pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Saturday 11am – 10pm
Sunday 11am – 9pm

Thanks for the recommendation Dereck!

Bei Yuan Tea & Boba (Just Drink) (former Tea Station)

October 15, 2024 Cathy Desserts, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you (back) to our food blog. Cathy has some time to write about a local spot today (she has been crazy busy) while Kirk has been unable to connect to wifi, elsewhere in the world.

I think my most recent post on Tea Station was in 2021.

The San Diego franchised locations seem to have disappeared and 'our' location (on Clairmont Mesa Boulevard) has been re-named Bei Yuan Tea & Boba.

There are two self-serve kiosks in this lobby area as well as the walk up cash register where you can order snacks and beverages "to go", or you can have a seat and soon you will have a person drop by to take your order.

The menu is very similar to Tea Station.

We ordered a pot of hot original green tea ($4.95 plus $1 for the large size). It is an excellent fresh flavored tea.

The pork dumplings with the added side dish of three sides ($18.97) make a great meal. The dumpling skin is not too thin nor too thick and the pork filling is plentiful and very flavorful. The sides change daily and usually one is warm with meat and two are chilled.

We decided to try the popcorn chicken with fruits ($8.98). It arrived with sliced (sweet) onions on top. If you haven't paid attention, The Mister hates onions.

So, they were removed, allowing the fruit and chicken to be exposed.
The chicken pieces were quite good; larger pieces of dark meat, lightly breaded and with a proper fry (not greasy). This was quite enjoyable.

Since we were here, a Shaved Ice was ordered. Strawberry milk with mixed jelly and 50% sweet (not as much condensed milk) ($7.73). This was an excellent dessert.

Bei Yuan Tea & Boba 7315 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego 92111 (858) 268-8198 Open daily 11:30 a.m.-midnight

As we were paying, I noticed this stainless cabinet with dry tea leaves and mesh bags in the lobby area.

I filled a bag and have it inside the car; a nice, subtle reminder of the scent of tea.

Bopomofo Cafe – A Grand Opening Quick Look (the Food)

July 30, 2024 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chinese Restaurants, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants

**** Well, much like my post on the recently opened Zhengxin Chicken Steak, this was kind of a spur of the moment stop.

The Missus and I were talking about our trip to Taiwan, we'd had such a great time. That's when I made mention of Bopomofo's Grand Opening in San Diego. We've passed Bopomofo so many times in the SGV, it's in the same strip mall as Golden Deli on Las Tunas Drive, where our favorite location of Tasty Noodle House used to reside and had always seem busy. So, of course, now the Missus was interested. I had heard of crazy lines and such, so I told Her we'd wait for a while before visiting, but She insisted on me checking things out.

So, I said I'd drive by when the place opened and if there was a line I'd bail. Well, guess what? It was right at 11 and there was no line!

Bopomofo 01

Sigh…..

So, I decided to head on in and it turned out I was the fourth person in line! I wasn't going to be getting any tea or boba here; that's the Missus's thing. I looked over the food offerings.

Bopomofo 02

Like the Eater's post mentioned, there's a good deal of fusiony items on the menu. And hailing from one of the hotbeds of "regional fusion", I've come to believe that "base/foundation" dishes are just as, or even more critical than the fusion stuffs. So, before trying out the Beef Noodle Soup Sandwich or the Mapo Tots, I thought I should try the Lu Rou Fan and the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken. But, on a interesting note; the guy behind me started chatting me up and he recommended the Hainan Chicken Tacos. So, I thought why not?

I placed my to-go order, paid, and waited. By the time I paid and walked to the stand up table to wait, the line was creeping to the door.

Bopomofo 03

It did take 40 minutes for my to-go order, so I'm glad I went early. By the time I left, the line was out the door.

So, here's what I unpacked at home.

Bopomofo 04

First up, the Hainan Chicken Tacos ($13.75). These were kinda tiny tacos for almost $14.

Bopomofo 05 Bopomofo 06 The tacos were served on blue corn tortillas, that were very dry, tough, and really didn't add anything to the dish. Likewise the sweet chili sauce provided.

I first tasted the chicken itself, which was not bad; though on the dry side; the "fowl-ly" ginger tones came thru nicely. But it was just lost when using the sauce and the cardboard like tortillas just made things blander.

As for the Lu Rou Fan ($14), you can tell this ain't Taiwan by the prices right? Well, I wasn't expecting Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice. And this wasn't close, but it wasn't terrible.

Bopomofo 07

In terms of texture, the pork was on the tougher side, the rice was hard and dry, and they actually stretched things out with mushroom, which isn't a bad option. The mustard greens really woke you up since it was super bitter. The egg was warm, perfectly cooked, and seasoned. The flavor of the pork was quite anise-cinnamon forward and a bit on the saltier side of things.

Bopomofo 09

Overall, not bad, but I'm not sure if this is worth $14.

And finally, the Popcorn Chicken ($12.50), I chose the "classic version" with dark meat (of course) chicken. I thought this was a decent portion for the price.

Bopomofo 10

Sadly, the chicken had lost all it's crispness during the drive home. It was also on the dry side of the scale. Even after doing the air fryer "revive" step, it was still not as crisp as I like. Like the pork, this was a bit on the salty side of things; but I was happy to note that a decent, peppy pepperiness and the flavor of basil; not sure how that was since there was but a string of fried basil in the box, came Bopomofo 11 thru nicely. I believe the the version from Soup du Jour (funny, I thought I did a post on the place, but I guess not?) is better both in texture and flavor.

The staff here were very nice. Wait times and such are rather long right now, but I'll attribute that to being newly opened. It seems, with places like Zhengxin and the soon to (hopefully) open Juewei, Convoy is in its next phase with these fast-casual places that are more targeted to the younger generation. I'm hoping that Convoy district will still cultivate mom-and-pop restaurants though.

As for Bopomofo; my next visit will have to wait, as I didn't think the food was enough to deal with the crowds. Unless of course, the Missus want to get Her tea/boba fix here.

Bopomofo Cafe
7951 Othello Ave. Suite 106
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Mon – Fri 11am – 8pm
Sat – Sun 12pm – 8pm

Bopomofo 01b

Taipei – Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake and Returning on EVA Airlines

June 15, 2024 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

After an early dinner at Kao Chi we took a round about way back to our hotel room. While walking up Chongqing South Road the Missus noticed a food stall. She had remembered how much I enjoyed the Hujiao Bing ( Pepper Bun) at the Wenhua Road Night Market and pointed out the stand to me. It is named Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake.

The pepper buns were actually made on the spot. And then cooked in a tandoor style oven.

Even though we had just finished dinner, I just had to have one!

I couldn't wait to tuck into the pepper bun. Heck, this isn't Japan, it isn't taboo to walk and eat, so I just went for it.

The bun is thin with a slight pleasing crispness to it. The filling was scalding porky heaven, with nice hints of black pepper, mild sweetness, and savory tones. This was delici-yoso!!!

I jokingly told the Missus that I'd return to Taiwan just for the Pepper Bun and Pork Chops! Actually, I'm not really joking!

Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake
No. 13, Section 1, Chongqing South Rd.
Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Well, this was it. Our flight out of Taoyuan International Airport was leaving for LA at 10am in the morning. Luckily, our accommodation was right next to the Z2 Exit for Taipei Main Station. Even though the station is still confusing for us, we found the ticket office, and got on to the Taoyuan Airport MRT Express which takes 35 minutes to get to the airport.

And since we were flying Business Class we were able to access the lounge.

Which was quite busy….but it was a nice stop for breakfast.

And the flight back to LA was quite interesting.

It was a nice end to our trip. And it had us thinking about the next time we'll be back here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taipei – Kao Chi Xinsheng Restaurant

June 14, 2024 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel, Xiao Long Bao

On the way back from our Tea of Taipei tour, our driver/guide started asking about what we had enjoyed eating in Taiwan. Of course we mentioned Lu Rou Fan, Turkey Rice, and how I could not get enough pork chops! And inevitably, the subject of Xiao Long Bao came up. We mentioned going to the original location of Din Tai Fung on Xinyi Road which got a nice nod. Then he quickly asked if we'd been to Kao Chi. Kao Chi? Both the Missus and I had never heard of the place. He then wove us a story of how Kao Chi was started by Kao Su-mei (高四妹) 8 years before Din Tai Fung, back when DTF's owner was still only selling cooking oil. And Kao Chi should have been the famous Xiao Long Bao, but there came a moment when some international news outlet; I couldn't find much to corroborate my story except this, the owner of DTF got the interview instead and the rest, like they say is history.

You know how much we like a good story! We decided to head to Xinsheng South Road, where the restaurant had moved from it's original location on Yongkang Street and check things out.

It's a nice, bright, and modern storefront. There's a case in front of the shop selling snacks. The restaurant is definitely not as packed in as DTF, more relaxed, and the Missus told me that the customers seemed to be overwhelmingly Taiwanese.

The Missus placed our order which soon started arriving.

We had enjoyed all the veggies in Taiwan and when we saw white bittermelon on the menu we had to order that.

We loved the texture of this; slightly firm, yet tender. And for some reason, at least to us, white bittermelon while still being quite "puckery" is not a strongly bitter as the green species.

And of course, we had to get the Pork Xiao Long Bao.

IMG_7924_b So, how did this match up? Well, the wrapper was not as tender and more brittle than what we'd had at DTF. The "soup", the aspic based liquid was porky and flavorful. The filling was tender, though not quite as flavorful as DTF in our opinion. Though, it could be that having been to several locations of DTF around the world we've been indoctrinated?

What we really did enjoy was the Shen Jian Bao.

The buns arrived in a metal pan and really didn't look too impressive. But, with a slight adjustment of turning them over…..

At first glance, the tops didn't seem to be as fluffy as we'd prefer our SJB, but we were surprised when biting into them. The dough had a nice mild sweet-savory-yeastiness and that pan fried bottom really added to the textural contrast.

The filling was moist, slightly soupy, tender, porky goodness.

We'd gladly have this again!

Kao Chi Xinsheng Restaurant
No. 167號, Section 1, Xinsheng S Rd.
Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Man, we were so sad that our tirip to Taiwan was coming to an end. We'd be leaving in the morning. We decided to take a longer walk back to the hotel, walking all the way to Chongqing South Road. And this is where we came across one last, wonderful, surprise!

Stay Tuned!

Taiwan – Maokong Gondola, Shiding District, and Tea

June 1, 2024 mmm-yoso Taiwan, Taiwanese Food and Restaurants, Travel

Our time in Taiwan was nearing an end. We had one last day before leaving. The Missus had become a fan of tea over the last decade, so I decided to book a small group Tea of Taipei tour for us. It turned out that no one else had booked the tour for that day, so we had our guide/driver David to ourselves. It was a fun day, I'm going to mostly post just photos, otherwise this would be a super long post.

We got picked up at our hotel and immediately headed on out. David was amazing, had so much info for us. We were provided tickets for the Maokong Gondola at the Taipei Zoo and were told we'd be met at the top.

It was a fairly clear day, so the views were wonderful.

At the top we were met and taken for a nice stroll….

There are quite a few trails in the area and we were taken to a few of them.

All were easy to traverse.

After which we were taken to the Taipei Tea Promotion Center.

Which went over how tea is produced, the differences, and how to taste and approach tea.

The Missus really enjoyed this.

Taipei Tea Promotion Center
No. 8之2號, Lane 40, Section 3, Zhinan Rd.
Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Seeing that the Missus was so interested in tea, David made a couple of stops so we could walk and admire the fields of tea.

It's quite beautiful!

We then headed to Bitan and walked along the river and on the famous suspension bridge.

There seemed to be a number of hiking trails and walks in the area. I'm sure the Missus wants to return and go hiking here.

It was time for lunch and David asked us if we wanted to eat along the river…….which seemed a bit touristy. The Missus explained that we enjoyed typical, simple Taiwanese food and mentioned Lu Rou Fan. We walked over to nearby Xindian Road to this stand.

Which was ok, not as memorable as Jin Feng.

And then headed of to the picturesque Shiding District.

Making several stops along the beautiful Shihding Ciandao Lake (aka Thousand-Island Lake 千島湖) which is not a lake nor does it have a thousand islands, but is quite lovely nonetheless.

We visited a temple.

When I noticed some abandoned buildings along the shoreline, I was told about the creation of Feicui Dam which created this "lake" and also submerged part if Bishan Village, which was eventually abandoned.

The last stop for the day was the town of Shiding and Shiding "Old Street" which I was told dates back to the Qing Dynasty.

It was quite an interesting rustic town. Our destination was this tea shop.

Where the Missus got schooled in the traditional tea ceremony and tasting by a certified Tea Master.

The Missus really enjoyed this and of course we ended up buying some really great tea as well.

Fongchun (逢春茶莊)
No. 28號, Shiding E St.
Shiding District, New Taipei City, Taiwan

This was a fun day and as we were driven back we had a nice chat with David and he told us an interesting XLB tale and made a recommendation for dinner…..

Stay Tuned!